I am a computer applications student and am wondering if I want to buy a computer, which one should I buy? A desktop or a laptop? Personally I want a laptop and I am currently considering buying one of the following:

Acer S3 (Core i5)

Lenovo U310

MacBook Pro

I have listed them in order of preference… so, which one shud i buy? Or would I be better off with a desktop?

Please help, thanks!

Pwince Khan

October 16, 2012 at 3:40 pm

Lenovo U310...cause its the number 1 brand in the world now...but it totally depends on actually what you want in your laptop according to your needs

Alex Perkins

October 8, 2012 at 5:50 pm

If you are going to be moving between uni and home a lot a laptop will definitely make it easier. A good thing that is often overlooked in laptops is their realistic battery life, not what the manufactures state, Youtube is a good place to look for realistic reviews.

Bhavuk

October 1, 2012 at 8:32 am

If you are thinking of developing applications for iOS or for windows phone in future and also if you are doing a lot of programming related work. I will suggest you to buy a macbook. You can develop apps for iOS using a Mac only. So I will go with it.

Amit Sinha

September 26, 2012 at 10:07 am

if you were planning to learn low level programming then the laptop with very low configurations will work very fine but if you want to go with program like Oracle then it requires high configuration

david

September 21, 2012 at 12:04 pm

thank u guys for all yo comments... i now have a clear decision on wat to buy!!!! thanks

susendeep dutta

September 19, 2012 at 2:51 pm

If you are into programming in Windows,then you would be considering using Visual Studio 2010 or 2012 which significantly slows down a system(PC or laptop). So,I would recommend you to get a system with Intel core i5(3570K model if desktop),8 GB RAM, AMD 7000 M series GPU and a SSD if you like high read/write data access.

I would recommend you desktop as the keyboard and mouse comfort is better than what is offered in laptops.Although you can use external keyboard and mouse,but that's additional cost for your laptop.

Freecycle Me

September 19, 2012 at 2:33 pm

I develop software and I use both laptops and desktops. I would recommend paying out for a laptop, but I can recommend getting a desktop for homework. The desktop does not need to be anything special, get one second or third hand. Put Linux on it and beef up the RAM to the max and you will have a great development machine to host further virtual machines with OSes of all the main offerings. I prefer a desktop to work at. A laptop makes you lazy, sitting in bed with pizza in your other hand. A desk allows a place to concentrate with less distractions and somwhere to put your books. But a laptop means you can go anywhere with it. Personally, I use a USB stick more than a laptop. When I was at college, I could use the PCs there and I could log in via the internet when at home, but you may not have this option. But remember portables are more likely to be dropped, stolen or forgotten at home so consider how you want to work, and what is available around and in the cloud.

Suman Acharya

September 19, 2012 at 1:56 pm

desktops are more customizable and powerful.

David Jonathan Ten

September 19, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Just get whatever you like.

In the end, the computer doesn't matter much (unless you get the Macbook which runs on a different OS, and even then you can bootcamp and install Windows on it).

The most important thing is that you won't regret your decision halfway through class because you didn't get the laptop that you wanted the most.

I'd say don't go for the Macbook, there will always be something it won't install or allow you to do. As a student I think Acer S3 is more than a good option for you, go for it.

Alan Wade

September 19, 2012 at 10:27 am

To answer the desktop or laptop part of your question, its another think it through answer. Will you want to take the pc to work or use it on the bus, sitting in front of the TV etc? - get a laptop, if not get a desktop.